What Went Missing From The Episode
by C.H.E.A.R
Summary: This is a collection of little conversations that didn't air in certain episodes. Chapter 14 is up. Based on after Seeing Red. Where's Eric? How does Calleigh take the bad news? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

What Went Missing From The Episode

(spoilers for 'Power Trip', episode 709)

Finally the lousy day came to an unfortunate end. All he wanted to do was go home and crawl into his bed. Well, it was not his house and certainly not his own bed, but it was what he had to live with. He sighed glancing up at the blinking numbers: 3, 2... Even before the doors parted he could hear the engine roaring. Someone was having trouble, his car instinct told him. He stepped out of the elevator and into the garage. Only a few vehicles remained in the parking spaces. As he walked towards his car he could see the petite purplish car in the distance. Its engine coughed and choked as someone tried to start it. But it only refused and began to smoke. He started running up to it.

"Whoa, whoa, stop!" he yelled. The person did and came out of the car. Just a flash of her blonde hair and he knew it was Calleigh.

"Eric," she half smiled.

"Hey," he slowed to walking pace, "having car trouble?"

"Yup," she raised her eyebrows sarcastically. She obviously wasn't too happy about it.

"Let me see." Eric went over and opened the bonnet. The smoke dispersed as it opened. He faced the other way coughing. "How long have you been here trying?"

"Uh, an hour."

"That's why! Why didn't you call me?" he asked.

"I thought you left already," she answered embarrassingly. She watched as he closed the bonnet and came to the side of the car beside her. "Can you fix it?"

"Don't know, want a jumpstart?" he offered.

"Ho, no, no, no. I think I've had enough of jumpercables for the day, thank you." He chuckled at her remark.

"You just gonna leave it here?"

"It's getting late and I don't think the mechanic can come now... you don't mind dropping me home, would you?"

"Of course not. C'mon," she followed him in the direction of his car. "I didn't know you drove that little car."

"I actually was looking for something a bit bigger but," she shrugged her shoulders, "and you know, I just got it four months ago. Then this happens... stupid car."

"I was about to say it fits you - I think it's cute," he smiled back at her and she looked surprized. He reached for his keys in his pocket and pressed the button unlocking the doors.

"So, this is your car," she copied him in a way, "I wouldn't mind driving it to and from work." They climbed inside the black range rover.

"Yeah, I got it not long ago," he turned the key in the engine starting his engine. Soon they were out from under the building.

ECECECECECECECECECECECECECEC

For a few minutes they were driving peacefully on the road. The range rover was very smooth and also was his driving so the ride was enjoyable so far. A sudden thought popped in her head and she pondered on whether she should share it with him or not. Her mouth went ahead of her and talked.

"Hey," she started.

"Hm?" he answered with his eyes set on the road in front of him.

"About today - I'm sorry for not believing you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Um," she became nervous, "when we were in the lab, and you thought Reggie killed the girl..."

"Don't be sorry," he cut her off. A moment of silence passed between them and he continued, "you had your opinion and I had mine. Besides who'd believe me if I told them he killed the girl without the evidence to support it. Like the evidence from the last girl."

"But you were right, at least about Rachel. You were onto him from the begining."

"Still, my opinion couldn't stand alone." Calleigh could see the anger in his veins that travelled up his neck.

"'Stare a murderer in the eye'," she whispered to herself thinking deeply.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," she hid behind her wall. He slowed to a stop at the red light and stared at her.

"It's got to be something." She sighed and looked at him.

"After I saw you in the A.V. lab I went into the elevator, and Reggie was there," she pressed her lips together, "he was asking about the case, and when I wouldn't tell him he started talking about how we stay in the lab, when we should've been out in the field searching for the killer. Then he got close..." BEEEEP! Eric was listening so intently that he didn't realize the light had turned green. He drove off immediately.

"What did he do?" he sounded concerned.

"He just invaded my personal space, he wouldn't hurt me..."

"Yeah, just like we couldn't believe that a die hard cop would kill an innocent woman, let alone kill himself?" What he said took her by surprize. She just stared at the windscreen in shock then turned back to him.

"What?" she asked disbelievingly, "no, Eric don't joke."

"I'm not," his voice went soft as he realized that he had just told him of his death. "I wouldn't joke about his death." Her facial expression changed into a frown and dropped her head. She didn't know. "I'm sorry, Cal. - I thought you knew about it." He took her hand in his and squeezed it.

"How did it happen?" he questioned.

"The cell guard found him leaned up on against the bars of his cell. They said that he torn the bed sheet in half and tied a knot in it, and, you know."

"'Stare a murderer in the eye and let him walk away'," she said once more, "that's what he told me, the last time I saw him, at the elevator. I let him walk away and I stayed at the lab. Then there was the call out... I swear, if I had thought about it I would have known something was up."

"No, you wouldn't, it would've been out of context if you did," he reminded. She let out a small laugh and smiled.

"What?" he smiled curiously.

"Alexx told me that before... I miss her,"

"Me too."

"And I'm going to miss Reggie, too."

ECECECECECECECECECECECECEC

Soon they arrived at her apartment. Eric swerved the car into a guest parking space and turned off the ignition. They both jumped out into the cold night. He went up to the pavement and waited for her to come around. As she came towards him she rubbed her hands together.

"I swear if I didn't have this jacket on, I'd say it's cold out here."

She began making her way up the stairs with him behind her. Her door was at the end of the walkway. They stopped in front of it and she searched for her key inside her handbag. Eric stood there waiting patiently, quietly looking around the dark night at her neighbours' apartments. Some had lights, some didn't, but there was this one in particular that he could see a little girl helping her mother set the Christmas tree.

"Eric?" Calleigh called and he faced her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Mhm," she smiled one of her many sweet smiles, "thank you." Suddenly she placed her arms around him and he was surprized. He stared down at her head on his chest, then hugged back. She drew away from him covering her mouth.

"What?" he was confused.

"You smell like smoke," he tried her best not to laugh. He just rolled his eyes with a smile and turned to walk away. "Bye."

"See you later," he was on his way to the stairs when he heard her close the door. He ceased. Again his eyes met the neighbour's apartment. Christmas was going to be lonely again this year.


	2. Chapter 2

UGH! Tons of people have already did a story based on episode 710. I can't believe it, but here you go. If you like it review it.

(Spoilers for episodes 710: The DeLuca Motel)

SCREECH! Calleigh jumped to the sound of a car's screeching tires. Her blonde hair flashed left and right as her eyes searched for the origin of the frightening noise. It screeched passed her hummer and swerved dangerously into a parking space. The attention of several persons in their rooms was drawn to it. She watched as the car door opened and slammed closed. It was Eric. He angrily made his way to his room door and unlocked it. BAM! He obviously wasn't taking this too well.

Sighing she climbed out of the department hummer and made her way up to the entrance. Pieces of glass still hung from the broken window. Curses flew in the air like misiles in every direction and the terrible sounds of items smashing to the ground. Her small palm knocked nervously on the rusty old door. She waited patienty.

"What the hell do you want?!" he screamed swinging the door open in a flash. She startled him as much as he startled her. His angry features disappeared instantly as he realized what he had done. She could only stare shockingly at him. "Calleigh," he breathed, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it," she accepted quickly. Slowly he stepped aside and she entered.

The place was messy before and after the crime scene tape was there. The coffee table had empty Chinese take out boxes and a broken bottle of God knows what drink. The un-made bed had his apple laptop sitting tiredly on it. Ew. She felt sorry for him, but prevented it from showing too much. He plopped himself on the edge of the bed throwing his head into his hands. Screams urged to come out his mouth but he couldn't alow them, not in front of Calleigh. His fingers dug into the skin of his face threatening to tear it apart. He was in pain and she knew it. She allowed her soft hands to rub his back for a while.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Miss Bowen, the pregnant lady from next door. Her boy friend died from a heart attack, so I was just finishing up the case. So I figured I could stay here and wait on you."

"Oh," he faced her once again. Soon she noticed blood staining his knuckles.

"Oh, Eric," she held his hand, "I'll go get some ice."

"No, Calleigh you don't have to," he tried to stop her but she went for it anyway.

ECECECECECECECECEC

"Sorry I didn't see you very much for the day," Calleigh apologised rubbing the cold ice on him.

"I know, you were busy with the case."

"Well, I'm free now, wanna talk?"

"Not really," Eric pulled his hand away from her.

"Trust me, it's worth not damaging yourself on the furniture in here," she forced, "you'll feel better."

"Better?" he laughed unhappily, "things aren't gonna get better for a while."

"Just tell me what happened." He sighed heavily trying not to grumble about it.

"I paid Enrico to find my real birth certificate in Cuba, he did, it turns out I was born in Cuba and my father isn't my real father and my real father wants to kill me. There," he rushed.

"What?" she squintted her eyes, "Eric..."

"What the hell do you want me to tell you, Calleigh?!' she shouted, his body desparately wanting to get rid of the anger. As he exclaimed he realized he went too far and stood up to prevent hurting her any further. She sat quietly staring at him sadly. "Sorry," she could hear the tears in his voice, "life is just too hard for me, Cal., everything's falling apart." He paced, "I used to think I had the perfect family, until my mom messed up the story even more."

"The story?"

"I always kept asking her about my birth. She told me, she got pregnant in Cuba and travelled here for a better life, then I was born - in Key West, in Coconut Grove, in Fort Lauderdale, you name it, sometimes I was born three hours later, 18 hours later, at midnight. What, was, the truth? Then today, she told me that she did it with her boss at the factory in Cuba, and that is was a mistake. A mistake!? For all these thirty years I thought I was a Delko, then to find out that I was some mistake! No wonder my father thought that finally he had a boy, he'd be devastated if he found out that I wasn't his, I feel like shit...mistake?" he couldn't stop saying the word.

"Eric, you're not a mistake."

"That's what she said."

"No - that relationship she had with your biological father, was a mistake. That's what she meant. You were never a mistake, you are not a mistake. I know you feel sad about this, but there's one good thing that came from it...'

"What, Calleigh, tell me?" he knelt in front of her in a haist, "Tell me what good can come this son of a bitch that is hunting me down right this instant to kill me, huh?"

"Think about it. If it wasn't for that mistake, you wouldn't be here."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Eric, I don't mean that you should just like him because of what I said, I'm pointing out what your mother meant. I for one am glad that she did make that mistake, I know she is too, but I'm torn apart to hear that this is happening to you. I wish you weren't going through this, I wish you weren't living here, I wish you weren't hurting like this, I do. And If I had known you were here I'd let you stay with me." For once in the entire day he felt loved. If it wasn't his mother, it was Calleigh who loved him.

"Yeah but you just found out today," he slouched onto the cold floor.

"That's why I want you to stay with me until you can get back up on your own."

"No... I don't want this monster coming after me in your place. I can't afford for you to get mixed up in this," he took a stance to protect her.

"Knowing you are, then I'm already mixed up in it." He was surprized. "So it doesn't matter if you stay here, just please... it'll eventually kill me to know that you're in this place and I didn't do anything to help you."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"Trust me, we'll get through this." We not he. "I'll be here if you need me, promise me you won't do anything stupid to hurt yourself."

"Yeah," she raised from the bed ajusting her shirt. Eric got up, too and followed her slowly to the door. She stared the dirty door in the face and he watched ehr still figure from behind. It was all quietness now. As she reahced for the doors she stopped. There eyes met once more. Both wondered what the other was thinking. Each pair of eyes felt water behind them. She heard herself say, "Are you gonna be okay tonight? You want me to bring you some dinner?"

"Yeah and, no thanks," he replied.

And they settled in silence again.

"Bye."

Her sweet and sad voice left through the door as it swung closed. A warm tear fell onto his shirt.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm glad you guys actually liked my Deluca Motel chapter. And I had an idea for this episode before I saw it, so here you go.

(this is set after episode 711: Tipping Point)

Strong gusts of wind whistled harshly through the door as it opened. The two stepped inside quickly and he forced it shut behind him. She let out a _bur _and hugged her black leather coat closer. He couldn't help but smirk at her responce to the little cool breeze that felt like sunshine to him. The keys were tossed on the kitchen counter of her cozy apartment.

The couch, rather the pull out bed, sat invitingly in the living room, just a short distance away from his grasp. A smile tugged at his mouth as he took in the comfortable sight.

"So," she began, "have you had anything to eat? Do you want anything to drink? Anything at all?" Calleigh stood next to him with an inquisitive look on her darling face. He glanced down at her, noticing her level changed and her bare feet on the floor.

"I'd like this couch, please," he eyed the sexy couch calling his name. Eric went over to it and dropped his heavy black bag with clothes on the floor. 'Body, meet, bed'. She came up to the edge of the bed and stared at him in it. "Calleigh, I think I'm _in love_ with your couch."

"I'm glad you like it," she admired. One luminous smile appeared on her face at him sprawled on the matress. His eyes closed as if he were asleep. "Uhm, there are some towels and stuff in the guest bathroom, when you're ready to use it."

"Thank you, Calleigh."

"No, thank you, for coming to your senses and staying with me. It's the least I can do. So, I'm gonna go ahead and freshen up." She turned and headed for her room then suddenly spun back around. "Oh, and uh mi casa su casa."

"Cal.?"

"Yeah?"

"No midnight tiptoe?" Her eyebrows frowed at the question. A moment of pure silence passed and then she realized.

"Oh," a flash of relief came over his face, "you remember that? Well then, that too."

Finally she disappeared round the corner and he heard a door shut. As much as he loved spanish, he loved to hear Calleigh speak it even more. He had to admit, it sounded a bit sexy. 'Wait a minute: Calleigh, sexy?' he shook off the thought immediately and sat himself up in bed. That shower was calling him now.

About an hour after the two met again and said their goodnights to one another. They both fell asleep instantly. Their day off work was done and three days off were to come.

ECECECECECECECECEC

Soft snores sounded in the sweet atmosphere of the living room. She wondered if he was aware of his snoring, but it didn't matter because he seemed relaxed in his deep sleep. Eric lay on his stomach wrapped in the white sheets and his head rested peacefully on the pillow. She smiled and allowed a quiet aw before reaching for the leaves again. SMASH! Calleigh gasped, covering her mouth. Her eyes moved from the broken ornament at her feet to his squirming in bed.

Eric stretched his arms, making a sound as he yawned and cracked his eyes open to greet the morning. He looked a bit growchy when he sat up staring at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Eric," she apologised as expected. She reached down to pick up the pieces.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a hoarse voice. He watched her scurry around the place.

"I'm just doing a little decorating, and I smashed the thing by accident." Calleigh brought back a broom and swept it up speedily.

"Are you okay?" he asked swinging his feet out of bed. He saw her walking funny all the way to the kitchen then back.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch," she replied.

And then he noticed it standing there beside her. A Christmas tree, as tall as he, posed its green self. It looked new and was clearly fake, well all christmas trees in Miami were fake, the real ones grew where snow fell.

"When did this get here?" he stared at it.

"I put it together, just an hour ago."

"All by yourself?"

"Don't belittle me, Eric," she warned, "and it was easy, besides I didn't wanna wake you up cause I thought you'd wanna awake late."

He grinned at her lengthy explanation. To get a better look at the tree he stood up. It was actually six foot three, two inches taller than himself. He still couldn't believe she did it alone.

Soon he looked down at her staring up at him with those big ol' green eyes of hers. She looked like a child at Christmas expecting her new barbie doll from Santa. Cute. She had on a simple sky blue shirt and capri pants that hugged her skin to match it. She inturn observed his look. He wore one of his white under shirts that showed off his muscles and dark blue plad boxers which revealed his hairly legs. 'Ew at that last part,' she grinned not only to herself. 'What?' Eric glanced down then back up, 'Oh'.

"This is embarrassing," he blushed, "I'm gonna change." He bent down searching his bag for some clothes.

"I'll get you some coffee while you're at it."

She busied herself in the kitchen and he changed in the bathroom. When he came out he sat around the round glass table. There his coffee waited and it tasted great. Wait, where was she? He could hear and smell bacon and eggs and pancakes frying. Soon she brought out a plate for herself and him.

"Whoa," he was surprized, "I usually don't eat this much before work."

"Me either," she stuffed a small pancake in her mouth, "but, when I have my day offs I have to. The only way you're not gonna eat this much is if you're trying to watch your figure." He smiled at her eating.

"I am sorta but, what the heck." Eric dug in.

ECECECECECECECECECEC

After their lovely meal they gave the tree some needed attention. Calleigh brought out boxes of ornaments and decorations and lights for it. Calleigh wanted everything in the boxes to be on the tree. First were the lights. She handed him the white ones first then the coloured after. Suddenly she laughed out and he stared at her.

"I remember when I was younger, my mother rolled me up with the lights and let me go round and round the tree just to put them up," they laughed, "and then, and then my brother plugged them in and I got so scared of being shocked I screamed out hell!"

Second was the ornaments. The smallest to biggest, from top to bottom. Little snow flake charms, red, gold and silver balls, baby angels, Rudolf and so much more. Eric swore it was going to fall over and squash her and kept telling her to stand back. He couldn't believe how much fun could come from simply decorating a christmas tree.

Thirdly and lastly was the ornament on the top. Was it an angel? Was it a fat Santa? He guessed in his mind, waiting on her to take it out of the box. She held up a yellow star the size of God's palm which had its own blinking light, too.

"Let me help you," he suggested.

"No, I got it," he protested. He watched uneasily as she stretched onto her toe nails, and she sighed away fear as the star seemed that it would reach safely.

"Ah!" Suddenly she came crashing down and her finger lost grip of the star. His manly arms caught her as she fell into him. He was as frightened as she was. "O' God, Eric where's the star?"

"I got it, I got you, too," Eric placed her down to stand on the floor. He gave her a serious and worried look. "God made you five foot, three inches for a reason, don't over do it, and me six foot, one to hit into low ceilings." Calleigh looked at him in a different way. She was amazed at his choice of words.

"I'm sorry," she head dropped, "I like my height, but it's the best part of the tree to decorate, Eric and I've always done it. Well, with the help of someone." She looked back up at him. Never noticing that their bodies kept touching.

"No worries," he said. Then he turned her around facing the tree, handed her the glowing star and gave her a boost. A gasp came from her mouth and he smiled to himself. She smiled too, placing it on the top.

"Thank you," Calleigh said as he put her down. The two gazed at the twinkling lights and colours in front of them. Yay, Eric wasn't spending Christmas Eve, Day or Boxing Day alone!


	4. Chapter 4

So after this long hell of a break we get a new episode: 'Head Case' and I have to add another chapter to this story to keep the momentum going, or I'll just fall miserably behind. I hope you like it, here's a bit of an explanation to out favourite EC parts of the episode.

Chapter 4

_"So, we're waiting on Tripp?" he began._

_"We are," she nodded._

_Eric had just wanted to begin a simple conversation to ease the moment. Well they were practically sitting in the middle of the streets on their kits. They were also in close proximity to one another. Yet still, how weird._

_"You doin' okay?" she asked curiously._

_The question asked out of the blue. He meant to start a conversation, but not like this. Certainly he never wanted the attention on him. But he couldn't ignore her, she was just being polite or in another word 'herself'. For a moment he hesitated. One: he couldn't deny it, or she would've known and two: he'd never lie to her, it was just plain bad for their relationship._

_"No, not really," Calleigh perked up and listened closely, "I just, found out that Doug was all alone, doesn't have a wife - family."_

_He really did feel for the suspect, maybe it was because he went through the same thing. Not being able to remember and finding it hard to. It was indeed frustrating. He ceased speaking and sighed._

_"You know you're not Doug, right?" she clarified._

_"Yeah, I know," he smiled, glancing into the busy street. _

_"Okay."_

_She wanted him to know that he wasn't alone and he obviously knew that. He had the lab: Valera and Natalia, Ryan in a way, Horatio, Tara. When he pondered on it, he indeed had a family, including her in front of him. He admired the way that her finger swiped her blonde hair out of her face; a habit of hers that just caught his eye everytime she'd done it. How cute, he blushed slightly._

_"Your friendship means alot to me, Calleigh," Eric admitted freely. He, himself, couldn't believe his mouth, of course he was being serious, but he struggled to keep up with his mind. His large brown eyes focused on her, almost demanding a responce. His body nervously waited as she stared into him as if trying to read him page by page._

_"I didn't know you thought that way." Now obviously this was a speak-but-don't-think game their minds were playing with them. They weren't interested but the minds wouldn't allow the person to control them any longer. So the double date went on. Her face smiled shyly._

_"Well," his face lit up too, "how could you not know that, you read my file." Duh! Eric spoke out this time and it was well thought out. The hesitating turned over to her and she thought about what to say._

_"That was an unrelated case, it's important to me to respect your privacy." And just on cue, she'd done it again. Despite the cool breeze, Eric couldn't help but think it was a nervous habit: tucking the hair behind the ear. She felt relieved to an extent and just stared, almost challenging him to challenge her back. She nodded slightly and smiled on, a small dimple formed beside her lips. He nodded too, accepting her explanation. He didn't have a clue what to say and stared back at her it the utmost silence of the honking horn on the road._

_"Well whose organizing this picnic?"_

Eric couldn't help but laugh at his rememberance of Tripp's joke. He hoped he didn't pick up the conversation he had with Calleigh. He tossed himself onto the king sized bed. The warm sun coming through the sheer curtains hiding the window, adding to his happiness. Yes, he did infact get his condo back, with a warning he didn't want to think about. All he could do was daydream like a school boy who had his first crush. 'A crush on Calleigh,' he thought, tucking his hands under his head, 'crush, Calleigh, ha, I crack myself up.' Eric closed his eyes in true reflection of the moment again, the smile that plastered itself on his face remained there for the longest while.

He finally knew she loved him, not no petty talk or any brush off, just love. He wondered why she couldn't say it, was it that hard, I mean she was Calleigh. Come to think of it, why couldn't he say it in the first place? There was no reason to blame her for not saying it, because he didn't either. So they were on the same level. Both wanting love, finding it hard to do and finding _those words _hard to say; two peas in a pod, each one waiting on the other to come forward and admit that they're made for each other. One couldn't do without the other...'What's she doing now?'

ECECECECECECECECECEC

_"Hey, I was waiting for you," she saw him exit the elevator, "uh, this is the file Horatio wanted."_

_"Thanks," he took it and turned to leave. Then somehow felt like he had to turn back. About to leave herself, she nocticed him facing her again. She waited. "About what happened earlier, I didn't mean to put you on the spot." She thought it was sweet and silly of him to apologise for that._

_"Forget it," she smiled her words shrugging her shoulders in the process._

_"What if I don't want to?" he began again. This one sentense brought up the moment's lost words. 'What if he didn't want to? Oh please!' she found herself thinking, 'If you got something to say just say it.' She had waited too long for this, but it wasn't coming easy for him or for her. Calleigh found it very childish that he possibly couldn't speak his mind. If he wanted this relationship to work, he had to speak up and tell her. It frustrated her._

_"Eric, I am so confused... What do you want?" she laid down the carpet, all he had to do was walk on it. She waited again, giving him another chance yet to speak his mind. But it wasn't coming. Her stare was as intense as his: hers confused and his hesitant and afraid. In all honesty, he looked like a lost puppy. Crying at his owner's feet for a scrap of food, wanting to be held and cared for. She was there for him of course, but he needed to show that he was even more. That moment right there felt meaningless without his word, his opinion, his choice. His mind had shut off right then and his facial expression froze. He made an attempt to shake it off and speak but she got ahead of him._

_"You're gonna have to tell me, because until I actually hear you say the words, I don't even know if you believe it yourself."_

_It was clear to even the floor upon which they stood, what those words were. She was right, maybe he didn't know if he believed in their love. He understood her point of view, where she was standing and where she was coming from. To her those little words with their big meanings, meant alot to her. He kept on staring at her face as if she said nothing, but heard something._

_"Do you know what I'm saying?" she asked with a squint, wondering if he caught her drift. Then without warning took off into the distance. Soon he noticed persons in the lab walking about and talking and their footsteps. He blinked and headed to the elevator, pressing its botton._

_"Yeah, I do," he whispered sadly._

Calleigh seated herself around her small glass table. The hot cup of coffee heating her pale hands then creating a sweat on the table as when she placed it down. What she said haunted her. She was confused, check, she wanted to hear _those words, _check, she wanted a sensible responce from him, check, she had to come down on him like that, blank. 'I had to voice my opinion,' she thought, trying to defend herself.

'You didn't have to freak him out like that.'

'True, but Eric's a big guy, I mean seriously he could've said something, at least,'

_'Those words_, ha! You couldn't have said them yourself'

'I could, but'

'Mhm, Calleigh Duquesne, doesn't have the guts to say I looove you'

'I do'

'But what? Instead you make him feel guilty.'

'Guilty, 'bout what?' Calleigh waited on her conscience to reply and grasped the steaming mug with both hands. 'Hello?'

'Don't you realize that you're producing the questions AND the answers in this conversation, what do you need me for, what do you need you for, I should say'

'It's working, just tell me what I should do, you ARE my second hand thought'

'Yeah, I am... Okay, Eric is really finding it hard to express himself...'

'Yeah, but everytime we talk, it's the same old thing, I try to hint him you know, but...'

'Don't talk, if you hadn't realized, I'm your mind I know everything about you and I remember the last few times you've hinted him. Obviously, your way of trying to say I love you isn't working.'

'Hey!'

'I'm just saying that, what you said to him about _those words _has got him thinking.'

'You think so?'

'Duh! Didn't you see the look on his face?'

'The look on his face said _I don't know what I'm talking about'_ Calleigh lifted the mug in a haste allowing the coffee to flash out and spill on her arm. "Ow!" she screamed.

'Good. I know you didn't mean that, not only do you talk without thinking, you think without thinking.'

'Okay, I was hard on him, you're right, I get it.'

'I knew you'd come to your senses, although you did get some sense into him'

'I knew you could agree with me on something.'

'I am a part of you, aren't I?'

'Yeah, I can't do without you.'

'Or Eric for that matter'

'Oh stop it'

'Just don't wait too long to tell him _those words.'_

"I won't." She sipped from the cup.

This is the second time I've tried the 'talking to yourself' thing. I found it funny to write. LOL!


	5. Flashback, 701

One shot. Spoilers for Season 7, Resurrection. What I think happened/ should have happened.

What a disaster it was that day. It was thought that Horatio was gone, finished, and never coming back. That Ryan was somehow involved. That Ron Saris had finally won, and had his victory. But as the day progressed and was coming to an end, everything turned out okay. Her boss wasn't really dead. Ryan was involved, yes, but for a good reason. And Ron, well, he won't be around anymore. So it was well dealt with. The shooting, that is...

The hours ran away without being noticed and she laid there still, in the joyless room she last saw him in. Her aching head leaned upon her left arm on the desk, drearily watching the gun range in front her get smaller and smaller in the dull lighting. The dedication he had to escape with a bag full of guns for the case was unheard of, but for Calleigh, he was brave. It hurt so much knowing that he might die because of this act, that she couldn't find the strength to get up and out of the hidden place.

ECECECECECECECECECECECECECEC

And there she stayed, moaned, the tears rained until her face was soaked.

Soon her work cell began to ring. Slowly she drew it out of her back pocket: _Ryan Wolfe_

"Damn," she forced out hoarsely before clearing her throat to answer.

"Hey, Calleigh, how's it going?" his cheerful voice asked.

"I'm, at the lab," she replied barely a whisper.

"Oh, okay, just calling to see if you were okay, you know, since this morning."

"Yeah - I'll be fine."

"Alrighty then, bye." Ryan on the other line made a face as he was returning the phone to his pocket. Eric, who was in the passenger seat, saw it.

"She okay?" he wondered, trying not to sound too concerned.

"She said she was," he started while keeping an eye on the road ahead.

"But is she?" he pushed.

"I-" Wolfe paused and took a glance at him then back. "Why didn't you call her?" He whined and Eric sighed rolling his eyes. "She definitely sounded a bit tired - we all are... I think she was crying."

"And you just said bye like that?"

"What am I supposed to do, Eric, get in her business?" he complained while turning a corner. That was it: her business, Jake. Only Eric would have noticed it.

"Go back to the lab..."

"Eric, no, we're almost there."

"I _said_ go back," he repeated in a more aggressive tone. The two stared at each other before Wolfe made a sudden U turn. "Thank you."

ECECECECECECECECECECECECECEC

The sun disappeared underneath the now black sky. The hummer finally strolled into the lonely parking lot and Eric jumped out and closed the door. As he was picking up the pace towards the elevator Ryan rolled the window.

"I'll give you twenty minutes, after that I'm coming in!"

'Calleigh said she was in the lab, but which one?' Eric thought as he decided on the buttons in the elevator. One clever choice was the second floor, where ballistics was.

His shoes sounded in the hallway as he walked. The door came into sight and he paused there. He could see her fatigue form lying on the desk: her hand and her blonde hair scattered around to hide her face from him. The door clicked open and close and he was inside.

His brown eyes wondered what to say. Suddenly she started to rise out of her distressed position and her drenched features hit him.

"Calleigh," he said in disbelief. She quickly moved her hands to her eyes trying to wipe away evidence of hurt and sadness, but couldn't, a witness had seen the scene already. "What happened when I was gone?" All she could do is stare lifelessly at him.

"I have, a headache," she paused watching him pull up a chair, "I'm just tired."

"Tired? You look, you look..." he couldn't even say it.

"Ugly, torn apart, fooled."

"No," his hand rushed to warm hers. "Why would you even say that? It's not you."

"Jake." The name exploded like a bomb.

"He was here? What did he do?"

"Nothing, Eric, nothing," she shook her head slightly.

"It must be something, to make you end up like this." He penetrated her skin with his worried eyes, she had to explain before he got the wrong impression.

"Jake," she turned away, "he's gone... he brought the guns, and I ran them to, to see which ones were used in the shooting," he could hear the sorrow in her strained voice, "and he told me that, if they find him, he'd be dead." Eric felt his own tears watching from the frame of his eyes. It became worse when she broke into pieces in front of him for the first time. She hung her head sobbing. He pulled closer and laid her body on his. Her head rested on his broad shoulder and arm wrapped around his neck. He could feel her hot breath on his neck an as she started once more.

"I hadn't seen him for months, then his name showed up on the screen... I thought it was a mistake. Now, because of this stupid case, he might die... I can't live like this. I'd rather not seeing him for months knowing he's alive, than to see him dead."

"Shh - you don't know that for sure Cal, don't keep thinking like that, or you'll worry for the rest of your life. You know he loves you." Eric actually let that last sentence come out of his mouth? He meant it then. He patiently awaited her next thought while embracing her.

"I do, I love him too, just as much as I love you." Eric stopped his heart's rapid beating to hear the words resound in his ears. He gazed across at her face. Finally she calmed, after hours of pain and after darkness there was light.

The door clicked open.

"Guys are we still going to the bar?" Ryan's small innocent voice called.


	6. Flashback, 714

So, did everyone watch the new episode 714? Liked it? Well here's what I thought happened after it. I'm sorry for not posting after 'And They're Offed' I just couldn't think of anything, besides the characters need a break, maybe Cal and Eric didn't even talk about the truffles, maybe just a 'thank you' and then back to onto their jobs...

Chapter 6

_"It was like a dream," she answered fluttering her eyes closed. She recreated the false image in her happy mind of him telling her, confessing that: 'I can't imagin living my life without you.'_

_"It was real," he stood above her. He watched as her smile grew and prolonged. Her eyes soon opened exposing their now tourquoise hue._

_"Will you stay with me?" she asked with an angelic expression._

_"No," he said jokingly, "as long as you want me to, as long as you want me to." He seated himself beside her with his eyes glued to her joyful face. He rubbed her tiny white hand that grasped his fingers._

_For a while they stared in complete silence into each other, taking in peacefullness of the atmosphere of the room. How good did it feel to let out his feelings? Alright. How good did it feel to know that she heard? Awesome! Soon she noticed his stare become aimless, as if she wasn't there and wondered what he was thinking._

_"Eric?"_

_"Hm?" When she didn't say anything he leaned over her. Her eyes, bright as stars, began to close themselves waiting. He pressed his lips as slowly and softly as he could but felt nothing. He opened and closed them but felt nothing. He tried to see her face again. But sadly his eyes saw nothing..._

"Eric?" he heard her calling.

"Wha? Huh?" Eric jumped up in the seat, raising from the uncomfortable position. Calleigh coughed and winced in the bed before him and her hand slammed into his in pain.

"You okay?" he pressed against the bed worrying.

"Yeah," she breathed, "can I have some water, please?"

Eric stepped across the room and took the plastic bottle off the small table. He then helped her to raise the bed's level and handed her the drink. He watched her closely as she drank sip by sip, pausing sometimes for a weezy breath. It was frightening, but she said she was okay. After emptying half the bottle she gave him and he placed it down again.

"Alright?" he stood like a giant beside the bed.

"Yeah, my throat was little dry, that's all."

"Okay," he sat down again.

A yawn met his lips sending them far apart to catch air. His eyes settled on her in the hospital bed. Calleigh in a hospital bed, he thought he'd never see the day. So beautiful and quiet, not busying herself with a case or handling a gun, just _raw _Calleigh.

"Eric?"

"Hm?"

"What time is it?" she asked curiously. Eric lifted his wrist and stared at bare skin. Then he remembered. He leaned forward and got hold of her wrist, twisting it slightly towards him.

"Ten to twelve."

"What are you still doing here?" her eyes widened.

"Well, you did ask me to stay with you."

"But not this long," she giggled tiredly, "go home, you're tired."

"No, I'm tired so I won't be able to drive home all alone."

"Stop turning my words around!" she hit him playfully. The two ended up laughing.

"I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning," he placed her palm on her abdomen, "I want to stay with you." Calleigh felt her cheeks become red and warm.

Suddenly the door pushed open a bit and someone stuck their head through.

"Hey." The two switched their attention to the person whose voice they knew well. "I thought I heard whispering." Calleigh and Eric grinned and looked at each other before looking back at her.

"Hi, Alexx," they both greeted in the dark.

"Eric, what are you doing here so late? Give Calleigh a break now, let her sleep." Alexx stepped in fully and closed the door.

"She just woke up coughing and when she stopped we ended up - talking," Eric shrugged, trying to seem innocent. Alexx stared for while then got a sheepish grin.

"Look at you two: looking after one another, all smiling, just like..." she trailed off.

"Like what?" Calleigh cleared her throat.

"Oh just..."

"What, Alexx?" Eric demanded playfully.

"A couple!" she smiled even brighter.

"What?" Eric was amazed as if he never knew.

"Eric..." Calleigh quietened him with a stared and a squeeze on the hand.

"No," she couldn't help but blush into his face, fiddling with his fingers.

"Your hands say otherwise," Alexx went up to the bed. They drew away from each other and shied away.

"Well," Calleigh started shyly, "not really."

"Not, yet," he finished.

Uh oh. The first person to actually know about their _top secret _relationship was Alexx. They didn't know what to say, they were embarrassed, flabbergasted, and blushing bright red in the dark. The doctor only smiled and approached them, the silence now frightening quiet.

"Alexx..." Eric began to improvise but she cut him off.

"Finally," she said simply, "I knew somewhere deep down, at the very bottom of my heart, that you two had a little 'something' going on, or just started to right before I left. And I didn't want to say anything, but just let you guys find each other first...couldn't do it alot faster for me to be there to see it happen?" They laughed.

"Actually, I think, I think we just did..." she paused staring dreamily up at her new boy friend, "right?" Eric smiled shyly and nodded.

"Well, I'm happy for you," she congratulated.

"Thanks. Alexx, we um, want to keep in a secret cause the rules at the lab and, you know," he said.

"Of course, your secret's safe with me... Well, I need to be going, it's a bit late as you can see." Alexx crept up to the door. "Bye, see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye," the two said at the same time.

A deep sigh escaped from Eric's mouth and he fell into his chair in relief. She laughed at him trying to calm his breaths. When he did he stared lovingly at her laying against her pillow. She saw him staring but didn't mind him, at least she had company that night, rather than spending it alone. Slowly she felt her eyes locking but refused to close them... she loved looking at him looking back at her, it became the new 'Calleigh and Eric' trend...but after an excruciating day all she could do was let go. Let go into sleep and allowed him to watch over her.

"I love you," he whispered as quietly as he could. Eric's future with this woman flashed like a camera before his eyes. He soon drifted into sleep, too.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, as you guys noticed the chapters of this story are mixed. This is because I've been busy lately and need to catch up on and finish stories. But anyway, I'll always tell you which episode it is based on and note each flashback when it is one. So here's events after 720: Wolfe In Sheep's Clothing.

That evening, after all the day's events, every C.S.I. had some form of warning. Each in their own way. Few expected a worse impact than the other, felt for one another and just wanted to catch every Russian out for them...but it was gonna take a while. Today was Ryan's brutal warning:

Hunched over, he sat on the hard bench aching from his wounds. After his hair being pulled, his neck being pricked, his tooth being plucked and his stomach being punched: he survived what might have been death. He stared at the gun and badge held safetly in his palms, rubbing them over with his thumbs... The quick stealthy movements of Andrei still haunted him, the deadly looks the pliers and gun gave him the chills, the hard punches he received painfully and the thick, musty smell of his own blood surfacing in his throat and mouth made him nauseous.

Suddenly Calleigh stubbled upon him, sitting near the entrance of the room. She gasped causing him get frightened. His head shot up in an instant to notice it was only her, her surprized face calming.

"Ryan, I'm sorry... you scared me," she sighed with a friendly smile. She continued to her locker remembering nothing but the large puppy dog eyes he gave her, he seemed more frightened than before - maybe even scared. He just remained seated in silence while she retrieved her belongs, so distant and without saying a single word. Calleigh kept sneeking quick glances over at him, which over a time prolonged as she wondered about him. Soon she locked the locker and moved towards him. As she neared him she felt the need to pry.

"Ryan, are you okay?" she asked unsurely welcoming him to talk. For a while he hesitated and for a while she waited. "Well, if you don't wanna talk, I'll just leave you alone. So..." She began to exit when he stopped her.

"No," he called, "you need to know." Calleigh took a seat beside him on the bench and listened. "You diserve to." He faced his fumbling hands in front of him and then her. Her bright green eyes just stared a deep hole in his.

"I know I should've told you a long time ago, but I..." he paused again.

"What happened?" she questioned. Her voice became its softest and most calming now.

"The Russians kidnapped me yesterday. He, knocked me out, took me to this place and tapped me down to a chair. He uh, he kept torchering me for information, but I wouldn't give it to him."

"Oh my God, Ryan, you should've told someone." Calleigh's expression changed to worried.

"I couldn't," he half shouted in a cry, "Cal., he threatened to kill Billy Gantry and I just couldn't let him. I just let him beat me up instead. You were right, there was no dentist but a fight... I needed to save him."

Calleigh placed her palm on his back. He hesitated with tears in his voice.

"I hid the bullet casing from you, then I had to get that suspect off the hook in interrogation. Before you dusted all the prints I forged the security guard's print, just to throw you off track... if Delko got even angrier I wouldn't blame him."

"But he didn't," she rubbed his back, "he just wanted to know the truth, that's all." Ryan nodded. He was now fighting his tears.

"I know," he admitted on the verge of breaking.

"Come here," he turned and she hugged him, "I knew there was something wrong, it just wasn't you."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to."

"Don't be, I understand, I've been there and I know the feeling. It wasn't your fault, babe, you did what you had to do... you're very brave, Ryan - it's gonna be okay."

She felt his head nod against hers slowly. She could remember the day when she got kidnapped and knew how scary the situation was...and most importantly the person who comforted her that night. Thank God she didn't go home alone. This was exactly what Ryan needed: comfort. Her heart almost broke to see him in the state and she couldn't stand the hurting.

He breathed and sniffled against her neck as they remained in the loving embrace.

"They're comin', for all of us, Calleigh," he warned through a sob.

"I know, I know," she reassured more, "but we'll, get through this."

Calleigh's words slowed to a stop. Eric stood at the doorway shocked but got quite some understanding of what was going on. She stared up at him from Ryan's shoulder.

ECECECECECECEC

Eric sent a confused look to her as they climbed into his car. _What was that all about? _it asked. She saw him and patiently waited until the doors were closed.

"Don't give me that look, because I know you know we weren't doing anything..." she began to shield herself.

"No, Calleigh... I didn't mean it that way," he clarified gently. She sighed to herself leaning back into the leather seat. He totally discarded that assumption. "What happened in there?"

"Ryan didn't mean to throw us off in the investigation, he had a reason," she said.

"And?" he waited.

"And that's why he did it," she tried to finish, "he got kidnapped and was forced to do it so that an innocent boy wouldn't die, okay?" Eric's features dulled and suddenly he felt horrible for the guy. She saw his instant reaction and knew he blamed himself for getting upset. "Eric, he got kidnapped just like I did and, I think he's going through alot...please don't beat yourself up about being mad at him, it's no one's fault." She stared him sadly in the eye.

"I'll apologise tomorrow," he finalized starting the engine of the car. Calleigh nodded.


	8. Flashback, 713

Flashback again. This one is based on what should've happened after 713: And They're Offed. Remember Eric left her favourite treat in her lab? Here's what happened to it...

Early the next morning Calleigh began her day. She signed in and went to her locker to put away her hand bag and get her on-duty gun. As she stood before her open locker she searched her bag for her cell phone. When she retrieved it she saw '1 missed call' on the front. She opened it in curiosty, because she had her phone with her all the time.

Eric Delko.

Hm, if it was indeed Eric she would've answered, but didn't know why his call was missed. Calleigh just shrugged her shoulders and put away the bag. She would've seen him later on in the day anyway.

On her way into the ballistics lab she walked happily ready to start the day. But as she opened the door she saw it. She froze. It stood there by itself, all black and tiny...and hungry. It was a hungry vicious ant and it placed itself on her clean and shiny desk. Calleigh's eyes suddenly narrowed with a grunt and she headed for it with a fist. BLAM! She got it... but then spotted a trail.

Darn. She soon noticed that they crawled from the dark colored floor and up table hanging like a black rope. They swarmed on the table, crawling and stumbling over each other with their tiny ticklish legs running all about - ugh. Calleigh shrieked and itched at the terrible sight. But she took control and blew on them. They scrambled in a rush away from the food they were attacking: it was a clear box. What was it?

Truffles. For a moment she smiled at the treat already tasting it in her mouth, and was that, her name on the top of the box? She 'awed' that Eric'd do something like that for her. How thought he was... and how ungrateful the ants were. Speaking of which, they were now covering it like a sheet, leaving almost none of the box uncovered. She had to make choice either spray the whole thing with bug spray and waste it in the rubbish bin, or grab it and get rid of the monsters herself. She could shoot them! Calleigh laughed then concentrated on grabbing it.

"C'mon it's only a couple o' ants, Calleigh. You've done this before on an even worse occasion," she prepared herself. She blew on them again and slowly reached her palm forward and grabbed it quickly off the table. "That wasn't so hard," she reassured herself. She completely forgot that all the ants hadn't come of the entire box and when she remembered, she became frantic.

She scratched and shook them off until there were none left. This left her running out the lab and leaning against a wall acting like a fool. Ffew. And she stared at the tightly sealed box, her taste buds raging. Calleigh forgot everything and sunk down to the floor, opening the box and picking up one of the chocolate flavoured delites. She stuffed it in her mouth and savoured it, closing her eyes.

Suddenly footsteps jolted her eyes open to see him standing in front of her. Eric stared and laughed at her. Her hair messed up from trying to get the ants off, her clothes slightly crumpled from sliding down the wall and her mouth puffed up with half of what was in the box before. Eric only shook his head and went inside the lab. Her eyes followed him inside and watched him murder every, single, black ant in there with bug spray and came back out.

"Tshanks... wan' shome?" she held the box up to him.


	9. Chapter 9

Song: 'So Into You' by Fabolous

Okay so I found a long lost song by Fabolous and it just describes EC so much I had to start it in this chapter. And no I haven't read any fanfiction about Dead On Arrival yet, but here's one!

Eric fumbled around in his locker storing his on-duty gun in and taking his bag out. After the case about the dead bride-to-be, he just wanted to leave the place. For a while he stood on the spot contemplating on the day's events and how the reasons for murder was so unbelievable yet real.

He got himself so caught up in his thoughts that he missed a phone call. The cell began to vibrate again and somehow now he felt it. Quickly he reached for it hoping it wasn't another tiring case. It wasn't.

"Calleigh?"

"Yeah, where are you?" her voice chirped, "Don't you wanna go home?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well what's taking you so long?"

"I'm getting my stuff, I'm coming."

"Okay, handsome."

Eric rolled his brown eyes and smirked and her charm.

ECECECECECECECEC

He practically raced into the elevator and into the parking lot. Along the pavement he slowed down, gasping a bit, heading towards his car. He searched his pockets, front and back for the keys. When he couldn't find them he search his bag but nothing. For minute he wonder where they were, then realised the sound.

The loud bumping of music, blaring in a completely locked car. What? Someone got into his car? How? But not just someone, a specific person. Blonde hair swaying from side to side and a perfectly happy face with lips mouthing lyrics. Yes, that was Calleigh - his crazy, yet extremely beautiful and funny girl friend - dancing in the front seat of his own car. He stood on the spot staring and grinning at the sight in front of him. Eventually she saw him and laughed in embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" he laughed opening the door. She became red in the cheeks and stared at his surprized expression as he closed the door waiting.

"Do you remember this old song?"

"Yeah, I think," he stared daggers into her skin.

"Well I like it."

"Okay," he accepted smiling. Calleigh bit her lip and sunk in her seat. She was opeing up to him more and more, by every passing day. He was finally seeing the _fun, crazy _side of her and he adored it.

ECECECECECECEC

The excitement died down when they got home. Calleigh busied herself cooking a quick dinner for the both of them. She went back and forth in the kitchen fixing everything at the same time. In the meantime Eric was upstairs doing _something_. She was sure he bathed already, because he'd never take more than half an hour. Still the silence intrigued her curious mind. What was he doing?

A few mintues later dinner was finished.

"Eric?" she called at the foot of the stairs, "dinner's ready!" She waited for a moment.

"Yeah," he shouted back. As he did she walked towards her awaiting meal then heard it:

_Baby girl...  
I really like...  
Desert Storm..Yeah, Yeah...  
I can't really explain it  
I'm so into you now  
I wanna be more than a friend to you now_

She mentally screamed at the beginning of the song and dashed upstairs like a speeding bullet. She followed its wonderful lyrics to find Eric sitting at her computer in her room. His eyes met her glowing green one's and she raced up to him.

"What're you doin'? Don't you want dinner?" she tried to disguise her excitement.

"I do, but it can wait, can it?" he said. Eric rose from the seat covered in an undershirt and his boxers only, moving up to her body. She pursed her lips as tightly as she could until her teeth eventually shone through. He held her palms in his and pushed against her dancing. She laughed, gazing up from his firm chest, as he watched from above. They swayed playfully, their feet shuffling on the white carpet.

_But girl I'ma do whatever just to keep a grin on you now_

Suddenly after those couple of words he moved behind her, lowering his body to fit with her hers. He then slid his fingers down her sides, around the waist of her boy shorts and joined on her abdomen. She giggled his name when their bodies began to grove as one. She screamed with giddy laughter as his chin smoothed across her cheek and his chin rested by her neck tickling her. She fell into him and he caught her, steading her again.

"Eric, c'mon dinner's getting cold." She stretched her neck looking at him.

"Don't care," he spun her around. Now they were dancing hand in hand again and more freely.

"What more can a person want in life?" he began, still dancing, "A nice house, a caring family, a lover that's so into you?"

"I want nothing more," she answered his suggestions.

"The things people kill for - money? Wasn't the show enough?"

"Stop, the case's over... _I really like what you've done to me, I can't really explain it, I'm so into you._"

Soon the song reached the part saying: _"Since you been asking 'bout their friends, how'd you like if both our names had Jackson at the end?" _And as they carried on he asked her:

"Calleigh, are you the marrying kind?"

"Wh...?" she paused as the real question hit her. And she stopped moving.

Her eyes suddenly widened and her jaw fell open and she stared at him shockingly. She felt as if she couldn't breathe and looked so, too. In an entire second she went from gleaming to total shock.

"Cal., what?" he finally stopped smiling, "What's wrong? You okay?" Finally, like the _pea brains_ men are, he realized what he just asked her; after the confusing nervousness he placed on her. "Oh! No, no I'm sorry."

He pressed her into him feeling the hard throbs of her heart calm down against him. She evantually softened.

"Jeeze, Cal., it was a joke." He looked down at her in his arms as her expression melted away. She shook her head.

"It was a good one," she admitted simply.


	10. Chapter 10

Okay I was wondering how to start this chapter, and I thought of a light-hearted moment, because the two barely had a scene in Collateral Damage and that kinda made the episode a little boring for me and others too. So here's 'What Went Missing'.

The blazing hot Miami sun had finally set in the evening sky, just as a case came to an end. The couple drove home in separate cars, to be discrete, but parked in the same garage. Their relationship went from it's giddy start to the part where the love began to soak in. Although they were always open with each other about almost anything and supported each other's opinion, now they were suddenly used to the closeness and living together came natural almost like - a family. The feeling was great.

Calleigh sat herself quietly on the bed, all refreshed and ready for sleep. She waited on him to join her, more like watching him get dressed for bed. He didn't mind one bit, because he sometimes sneeked a peak at her while she did too. It was legal. But now was just plain weird.

As Eric stepped out from the bathroom heading down the hallway leading towards the bed, he felt her eyes on him. Her lovely green eyes were. He smiled at her gazing and searched his drawer for clean boxers. When he did find a pair, he slid the towel off to put them on. As he did so he felt the urge to look behing him to see if she was still watching. Infact her eyes never changed position, they were glued. She didn't even blink. Eric put them on and a white shirt, too. He went around to the other side of the bed, climbed on and snuck up behind her.

As she felt his gritty chin tickle her shoulder and neck, she jumped gasping.

"Eric," she calmed settling into his touch.

"You saw me coming."

"No, I didn't," she answered. Eric leaned against the bed post and pulled her into his lap. He pressed his nose to her hair and inhailed her scent. Then his strond arms held her around the waist.

"How was your day?" he asked, kissing her shoulder, waiting on an answer, "Calleigh?"

"What?" she looked back at him like he just began talking.

"I asked you 'how was your day' and you didn't hear...What are you thing about?"

"Oh, nothing," her gaze fell to his arms.

"C'mon, you were thinking about something, otherwise you'd say something about me walsing in here naked."

Calleigh giggled leaning against his chest. He quickly smooched her cheek and she giggled again.

"Eric, stop," she smiled.

"Why? I haven't seen you all day," he continued to invade her personal space even more.

"Yes you have, twice."

"Not enough," he said. Eric rubbed his itchy chin along her smooth skin and she shrieked.

"Stop, I mean it."

"Are you gonna tell me how was your day then?" he backed off.

"Yes...as usual it's a case where the cause of the murder was stupid, innocent people are killed, a family who's supposed to be the innocent ones aren't and are a part of the crime AND, this is the best part, they killed the wrong person BY accident."

Silence followed her unexpected statement. She didn't seem angry, but was definatley not please either. Eric down at her face: eyes and hands fidling with his arms quietly.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to sound the way it did, but it's true," she replied softly.

"Well, if something's bothering you, you can always tell me. So?" She shifted her position to face him.

"Are you afraid? Of the Russians?"

"No... you?"

"I don't know, it seems to me like people are dropping like flies for the craziest reasons and I feel like it's just starting."

"What's just starting?" he asked curiously.

"The whole 'Russian mob' thing, the whole 'warning' and bombs in the lab... I might sound stupid when I say it but, the whole stalking thing is creepy."

"That didn't sound stupid, you're just worried...not everyone likes stalkers taking pics of us," he laughed. She eyed him with a very worried expression and he stopped.

"I'm sorry."

"I keep wondering if we're being watched constantly, and it's not a nice feeling; when is it going to end? I mean it's not like we have a case and evidence to go on, you know? It's like we're stuck in the movie where the characters don't know what's coming and the audience knows, at they can't give us the slightest

warning."

Eric looked away thinking of what she said. No matter what she said to him or how she'd say it, it'd always make sense. She thought of something that was big and their lives we put in danger, the teams lives - and yet they were doing nothing about it.

"You see, I'm sounding stupid right then," she pouted.

"No," he reassured, "it makes alot of sense, I never really thought about it that much..."

"It's like they're waiting for the right time to strike," she continued in confidence, "Why isn't Horatio doing anything about it?"

"Honestly, Calleigh, there's not much to go on. He'd like to, I'd like to, but unless they strike again leaving evidence to catch them, we're left with nothing."

He took her palms in his and rubbed the coldness out of them. She sat there, with her legs crossed, inbetween his, looking so unbelievingly beautiful. The curls of her lengthy hair fell down over her shoulders resting above her breasts. Her shirt hugged her body and so did her shorts. The rest was simply silky skin. But it was her unsure face that bothered him, seeing her worry got him worried also. Her eyes could get as big as saucers when she worried and when she cried rarely.

"When I really think about these things, sometimes it can get scary,"

"Don't let it get to you, Cal. you have to stay strong. You're the strongest person I know, sometimes I think you're stronger than Horatio." A grin broadened on her face, "I mean it. It's scary, but we need to hang on for the people of Florida, and most importantly ourselves. Okay?"

Calleigh looked him the eyes sincerely, "What would I do without you?" She rested her body against his with her arms wrapped round him. Eric patted her back and reached over to the night stand and switched off the light. He sunk into a comfortable position beside her and covered their bodies with the sheets.

In a matter of minutes their eyes adjusted to the darkness and dim moonlight shining in on them. He watched as she stared at him lovingly, it gave a warm feeling inside: 'Everything's gonna be just fine', it told him. She kissed him goodnight, he kissed her twice goodnight and they both joined as one after that. Niether stopped until sleep came knocking.

"The question is, what would I do without _you?_"


	11. Chapter 11

I wanted to update this from yesterday, but school work was killing me and I had to go to extra lessons so do the math = no time. But now I do have time. Keep in mind I haven't read any fanfiction before writing this, I wrote it on Monday night. Here you go, based on Dissolved (724), this is what went missing:

After a rough day of corrosive alkalines and dying people, the couple wanted a night out. They went out to a restaurant near to her home and ordered dinner.

Calleigh's natural confoundment with the aid of his fork clicking on the glass plate, drew attention twards him. She stared at him devouring his food like a starved beast, shoving spaghetti and meat balls down his throat and licking off the sauce. As he lifted his eyes from the meal he noticed her watching him, her food remained untouched.

"What?" he swalled hard. Soon he realized his absence of table manners and stopped stuffing his face... but she kept on staring. "I'm sorry I can't help it if the food is delicious, Cal.."

"No, it's not that," she faked a smile then it faded, "it's just..." Nervously she pursed her lips together and looked away. Eric couldn't help but pick up on her strange behaviour.

"What, is there a problem?" he asked, knife and fork in hand.

"Um, today, when you lied and said it was about a case..."

"I'm sorry," he quipped, "I know it was wrong, but I wanted to be focused on the case we were working." His sincere expression matched his tone: reassuring and sorry.

"That's not the problem," she said. Eric sighed heavily and placed the cutlery on the table. She sensed his discomfort towards her statement.

"Listen, I just wanna know the truth."

"And I told you," he answered quite offended.

"I don't mean to be nosy, but since when does he have your number? The last I've checked, you two hardly knew each other well." Despite her sudden curiosity, which he knew would come, she was right and definately deserved to know. But now wasn't the time and he wasn't sure of how to explain, or even where to start.

"Eric?" she urged with her most worried expression. His eyes redirected their gaze to her comforting hand over his. "I'm your girl friend, and no matter what it is you can tell me... is he harassing you?"

"No, no. Why would you think that?" he wondered. The answer was obvious and they both knew it; Alexsander wasn't exactly a good person:

"I don't know what I'm supposed to think?" she admitted truthfully.

"Look, Calleigh, don't even worry about it. It has nothing to do with you and I'm safe." All this time she thought her soft words were soothing him, but they only made it harder for him.

"Sharova - he wants my help, he..." Calleigh made a crazed face and her mouth opened to protest, "just listen, he's in a bad situation and he asked for my help, it's not a big deal, Calleigh. He helped me and I'm returning a favor..."

"Eric, you don't have to do anything for him. He made a choice to get you outta jail but you do not have to repay him," she said firmly.

"I have to, if it wasn't for him I'd be in Cuba right now!" he shouted in a whisper. Calleigh rolled her eyes in exhaustion and drew her hand away.

"Don't say that," she said in a tear-filled voice, "you don't know what would've happened, Eric!" Calleigh shouted louder, not realizing it because of her disappointment. Faces from other table turned and stared at them. After embarrassingly eyeing them he continued.

"Hey, you're just worried about the Russians, that's all. It'll be okay..." he calmed.

"Hey, well maybe I wasn't joking about marrying you," she finished.

Calleigh grabbed her handbag off the chair she was seated on and stormed off. He ran to catch her but she had already made it through the door when the waiter serving them stopped him.

"Sir, you have to pay for your meal before leaving," he reminded. Eric pulled out his wallet and handed him his credit card. "I'll have this right back to you in a moment." The waiter hurried off.

ECECECECECECECEC

He headed quickly towards his silver car, sighing to try and calm himself before even looking at her. Good thing they had one car, because he had no doubt she'd have driven away. The icy rain water splashed under his feet as he came to her. She stood beside the car, arms folded and showing an upset face.

"Cal.," he began hushing.

"I can't believe this, I, we're fighting."

"It's just a disagreement..."

"I don't wanna fight - I just wanna go home." Her struggle to keep a stable voice instead of a high pitched one was great. Before he was able to continue, she quickly walked over to the passenger seat and went in.

For the whole drive home, Eric could barely focus on the road. Unshed tears shinning in her bright eyes caught his attention half the time. Whenever she saw him she'd wipe them out and look away.

ECECECECECECEC

"I trust you with every fibre of my being... but I just don't wanna loose you." She told him while her head rested against his bare chest in bed.

"You won't, that's the last thing that can happen."


	12. Chapter 12

So, season 7 is finished. Which means this story will be off of a little while. But I have to leave you with the last few chapters, yes, last few. So for all those who watched the season finale, which was awesome by the way, here's what's went missing from the ending...well at least part of it:

"Yes, yes, H. - I understand," Ryan listened intently. Speedily he marched across the hallway of the lab, phone connected to his ear, and he continued to hear his boss. From the corner of her eye Natalia saw him enter. He was definatley searching for her. So she left the person she engaged in conversation with and met him there.

"Okay," Ryan's demeanor deteriorated as he ended the call. Natalia gave him a curious stare.

"Was that, Horatio?" she asked.

"Yes."

"What did he say? Get any new information aboue the case?" He eyed her sadly and sighed resting his palms on the table.

"Eric is no where to be found."

"What?!"

"H. said that they found Sharova with blood on him, and he says it's Eric's... we gotta get down there, it's nasty."

"Let me grab my kit."

ECECECECECECEC

On the way to the crime scene Ryan elaborated on what their boss had told him. The nightmare became more real as the hummer met the dirt road. Cop cars with their blinding red and blue lights reflecting off the helicopter hovering high above, swarms of brown attire mixed with bushes and trees and Horatio's hummer could be seen. Natalia sighed and looked her partner in the eye before stepping out of the car.

The man with the shades stood tall but worried beside the swamp's rippling water. They joined him.

"H., Ryan told me what happened, I just can't believe that Eric is missing," Natalia poured out.

"Divers are in the water," he stated solemnly, "birds are in the air... we'll find him." Ryan's eyes drifted from the murky water where divers surfaced and submerged, to the evening sky. He gulped at the thought of his friend dying.

"H., where's Eric's dad?" he wondered, as he noticed his presence absent.

"I sent him to the hospital, and later we'll have him back for questioning... get going."

The two C.S.I.s made their way over to the damaged car: Ryan at the driver's seat and Natalia at the passenger's. Both doors remained open, revealing the evidence created by the shooting. The windscreen contained a clean bullet hole near the middle. Opposite to it was no bullet, instead smeared crimson blood on the driver's seat. The liquid had sprayed onto the passenger seat and the passenger: Sharova.

"There's quite a bit of blood here," Ryan frowned. He had his camera in hand taking photos of every new piece of evidence he saw.

"I'll take some back to the lab to confirm," Natalia reached into her kit, took out a swab and collected a sample off the driver's seat. "Looks like he could've been hit in the arm... I'd rather that than his shoulder."

"So you're collecting a sample to make sure, while at the same time saying Eric was the one who was shot?"

"It's still a case, Ryan we have to treat it like one." He nodded as she placed the swab into its thin container.

"So, we know that Eric rushed to save his father while driving through the highly dangerous shootout. A shot came through the glass..."

"Actually there's more," she pointed out, "one in the back door and right here through the window - that one's lying on the seat right there." She scooped it up and bagged it.

"Possibly only Russian's shots, because they were on that side of the car."

"Yeah, but they're all dead right?" she asked. He nodded.

"And the only shot that could've gotten Eric was this one in the front," Ryan stood observing the ground on which he stood, "Hey, take a look at this."

"What is it?" she came over to the other side of the vehicle. There was more blood and droplets leading away from the spot towards a bush. She sighed, "Oh, Eric." The two stared at a small pool of blood right below the dark bush. A few twigs and leaves were crushed, probably caused by a compression.

"He must've gotten out of the car, maybe to get help and he fell right here."

_Eric rested his body in the driver's seat. The air bag had finally deflated leaving him gasping in exhaustion. He squeezed his eyes shut and grunted as the sharp pain in his arm kept coming. He breathed through his teeth and bared staring at his blood streaming out. Soon he realized Sharova leaning hurled over the dashboard unconcious. He then stubbed out of the car grimacing in pain. He stood wavering in dizziness and fell onto his side yelping._

"The blood stops here, Ryan and he couldn't have wondered too far without us seeing him," she clarified.

"Which means he was abducted."

_As Eric laid helplessly on his side an unknown vehicle drove up the dirt road and stopped. Because of his agonizing pain, Eric didn't notice someone's presence until they hauled him off the ground. He whimpered as the person dragged his injured arm towards the vehicle. He fought, but wasn't strong enough to escape. They eventually shoved him in the back of the van._

"So, they shoot at him, follow him and possibly want to kill him...so that means not all the Russians were dead," Natalia's eyes seemed watery after she spoke.

"I don't know, the car got caught in the crossfire. The only motive they'd have to kill him is because he became a part of Sharova's life... but before we make any more assumptions I have to tell you that Calleigh said that she shot at him - unpurposely."

"Where is she now?"

They both asked Horatio and he said he was there but didn't know where she went.

ECECECECECECECEC

"Are you sure she's home? I mean I feel like we're trespassing."

"She has to be. She switched of her phone and nobody can reach her."

"Making sure she's okay?" Natalia asked and he nodded. She couldn't help but realize that he was caring for her at this moment. He must've known something.

They were now approaching Calleigh's beautiful house. A flowery garden and a carpet of green grass surround the front. As they made their way up the path to the front door she pointed out the hummer. It looked as if it was parked in a haste in the open garage. This meant something wasn't right: C.S.I.s only used them at work.

At her doorstep Ryan hesitated for a moment then rang the door bell.

"Listen, she'll be okay and we have a case to work one," she reminded but not rudely.

"Sh."

Their ears became keen. SMASH! They jumped and instinctively placed their hands on their weapons. A glass had been broken. The two definately froze in shock waiting on another warning sign. Soon they heard a scream from inside, "Oh my God!" Ryan his weapon and burst through the door...


	13. Chapter 13

Wow! Guys, thanks for the reviews. (Note: I said that Alexsander was sent to the hospital and in the episode he was sent to jail... so I put in both, okay? And Ken is the guy from Smoke Gets In Your CSIs who did the ballistics.) R&R!

_A glass had been broken. The two definately froze in shock waiting on another warning sign. Soon they heard a scream from inside, "Oh my God!" Ryan drew his weapon and burst through the door..._

... Quietness surrounded them as they entered. Both had their gun aimed and ready for any attack. At first sight nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until they crept over to the living room. Ryan spotted an overturned vase in pieces on the tiled floor beside its table. A few of its pieces spread further across the floor from impact leading to the stairs. He eyed Natalia briefly before stealthily going up them.

At the top of the stairscase were two rooms ahead and two more to the right down the hall. She went ahead and he snuck down the hall. She heard faint weeping coming from the bedroom. First she checked the bathroom for any danger then ran into the room.

Calleigh was found across from the bed on the floor, leaning against the wall and her feet spread out on the carpet. She was crying into her hands. Across from her was her silver gun lying in shards of glass in front of the chest of drawers. A mirror without its face hung trembling on the wall above it.

"Calleigh?" she holdstered her own gun. Calleigh looked up from her drenched palms with a swollen ruby face, then hid again. "What happened? Are you hurt?" She went over to her and knelt beside her waiting on an answer. Then Ryan hurried in.

"All clear, he must've gotten away," he said, discovering the scene before him, "Calleigh, are you okay?"

"I've been asking her that, but she won't answer." Natalia gazed down at her colleage. She huffed and took steady breaths, shaking on the spot.

"C'mon, Calleigh it's us," Ryan knelt in front of her, "tell us what happened, are you hurt, anything?"

"No," she mumbled.

"Did you get a good look at this guy?"

"No..." she mumbled something again.

"What?"

"No... there was no guy," she removed her palms for a moment then dived back into them sobbing. Natalia and Ryan shared a worried look. She continued, "I shot him." What? They thought of her words then it all made sense: Eric.

"Calleigh-"

"I shot him, in the shootout - and when Horatio found Sharova he said Eric was bleeding and he lost control of the car - and we can't find him... I just got so _angry _with myself, I," she looked away from her gun as she spoke. Then quickly she wiped off her face with her sleeves but her eyes never ceased to produced more tears. Natalia stroked her tousilled blonde hair.

"I shot him," she burst out in jerking sobs. Natalia pulled her into a hug.

"Hey, we're not entirely sure that your bullet hit him," Ryan reassured.

"It was an accident," Natalia added.

"Even, even if I didn't, he's still bleeding and in pain... and it's all my fault." Her colleagues had never known Calleigh to be a 'crier', but now her walls came crashing down. She blamed herself, and until they found Eric she'd never stop feeling horrible and now she was down right confused.

"We're all on the case, we went to the scene and collected evidence that we're gonna work on," Ryan eased. She just squeezed her eyes shut, riding them of hot tears. His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket and he retrieved it.

"Sorry," he stepped out the room and answered, "Horatio?"

"Mr. Wolfe, where are you?"

"I'm at Calleigh's," Ryan peeked at Natalia still comforting her.

"Is she alright?"

"She's upset and blames herself for shooting Eric. But H., we're not completely sure that she did."

"That's why I need you down here, Mr. Wolfe."

"Yeah, H. I'm on my way."

ECECECECECECEC

A long bullet on the backseat of the car, one in the door, a hole through a windscreen, blood splattered on the car seat and on a deflated air bag. These were some of the pictures upon the lighted wall. Ryan leaned against the white table dressed in his lab coat. He stared at them with his chin resting on his fist. Soon footsteps brought him out of concentration. He looked back.

"Mr. Wolfe, what have we got?" Horatio joined him.

"Well, these are the crime scene photos. I left the blood sample Natalia collected in D.N.A and Ken is running stria. on the bullets we found. Now at first I was gonna run them because they more than likely came from the shootout and we shot down the Russians... but Natalia and I believe that at least one of them escaped without us knowing."

"So you'd like to eliminate the dead men. Mr. Wolfe, where's Ms. BoaVista?

"I left her with Calleigh," he gave him a sad look, "H., she's pretty shaken up." Slowly Horatio nodded while looking down at his glasses. His head suddenly shot back up.

"Mr. Wolfe, did you get a match on the car treads?"

"No, we already know it's Eric's car."

"No, look closely," he pointed out the photo, "the patterns are different." Ryan soon realised the two treads bisecting each other.

"Yeah, there's two... how did I miss that?" he questioned himself.

"We're human - go run them now." Ryan disappeared quickly meanwhile Valera and Ken came through the door.

"Lieutenant, I ran the blood sample Ryan gave me through codis and it's a match to Eric," she stated.

"And the striations didn't match any of the guns from the scene or any from the database. However, I can tell you that they are from the same type of gun," Ken informed.

"So Mr. Wolfe was right, there's a possibility that at least one man wasn't killed. Thank you." The two went on their way. Horatio quickly took out his cell phone.

"Frank, get Sharova outta jail, please."

ECECECECECECEC

Horatio paced with hands on his hips in front of interrogation. Sharova, in his orange suit, along with Frank awaited there.

"H.," Ryan raced up to him, "I got a match to a Chevrolete Tahoe, like the one that pushed the ambulance into the road. I sent out a bollo."

"Good."

They entered the room and got started immediately. Alexsander sat around the opposite side of the table staring at them.

"You bring me here to talk about Eric?" he asked resting his palms on the table. His accent was pronounced.

"I brougth you here, to ask you about the shootout."

"I know nothing about it."

"You will when you get a life sentense. You told me that Eric was sneaking you out before you committed a crime. What was it?"

Sharova sighed and answered, "I don't know."

"Speak up or Eric is gonna die!" Frank shouted.

"He was repaying you - I'm sure it would hurt to know that your son died because of your own doing," Ryan added.

"Look, they were about to tell me what to do, but then you guys showed up. The Russians hurried out with the guns during the gunfire. That's when he came. I told him to get out before they saw him, but he refused - I had to leave with him. We got away from them but then he lost control of the car." They believed the old man.

"What were the guns for?" Horatio tried.

"Something big, I don't know, I was only there for a few mintues."

Their eyes cut into him as if they never believed. "They only use me whenever the job is simple, or if they want something secretive to be done, because I look American and nobody will know that something's going on."

Ryan turned to Horatio in amazement who nodded to Frank and he walked Sharova out.

"They might use Eric."


	14. Chapter 14

I know it's been a long time since I've updated this, but I've finished two of my stories and have this to work/focus on now. Thanks for the reviews!

Her body lay still in the middle of the made bed. The air conditioning breezed through her hair as peacefully as she slept. Suddenly she jerked awake and sat up slowly from the position on her stomach. Calleigh eyed the broken mirror still hanging then quickly turned to face the bed. It was as if she'd forgotten and had an epiphany when her eyes gaze laid upon the empty spot. They watered and twitched as she stared at it. She tore off the covers and jumped underneath them, settling into his side of the bed. She clutched his pillow with both arms and pressed her face into it, inhailing his scent while teardrops seeped into its fabric. The alarm clock showed one o`clock.

_When I feel blue, I think of you_

_'cause you're true, wherever you are_

_near or far, _

_you still are, my shinning star_

Through dreaded coughs he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to invite sleep and to picture her face while he did. But only little came Eric trembled on the lumpy ground on which he laid. He couldn't find the strength to at least move or rub his hands together. It was far too freezing and the loss of blood from his aching wound prevented him from doing so.

ECECECECECECECEC

Horatio stood on the wet road which the overnight rain soaked. The think grey clouds concealed the five o`clock sun giving him no warmth. A swift wind tossed a few strands of red hair over his forehead and shades. He was standing before the crime scene shootout from yesterday. A vehicle drove up behind him causing him to turn around. It was a hummer - and out stepped a woman's high heels. She locked the door and proceeded towards him. Her hair flowed in the wind, she wore a long sleeve white blouse and black pants and her posture was fierce.

"Calleigh?" he began. She now stood before him holding a kit.

"We believe that Eric was taken by the Russians in place of Sharvoa," he continued.

"That would explain the Chevrolet chasing after them yesterday." Horatio's expression showed that he wanted to ask if she was okay. But he didn't knowing she might not have told him.

"What can I do?" she asked willingly.

"Join Miss. BoaVista and inside - maybe your fresh eyes can find something... they'll inform you on the rest."

"Okay, but Horatio, wasn't this area searched yesterday?"

"Sharova says he doesn't know the Russians were really doing, so we're just, crossing our t's."

Inside, they continued to search for clues. Their flashlights beamed around in the dimly lit warehouse in deep conversation.

"I can't believe Calleigh's here."

"Yeah, yesterday she seemed so broken up I thought she'd never get over him."

"She's _Calleigh, _Ryan, I suppose she'd want to be here to help. I sure am, because it's Eric." They watched her nod to Horatio and began walking towards them.

"She loves him," Ryan said raising his eyebrows.

"Sh and don't give her the 'sorry look' or ask if she's okay. Here she comes," Natalia stared her way. Calleigh stopped in front of her.

"We already checked most of this side," Ryan stood from over a crate, "we haven't gotten to that side yet." She could clearly tell their curiosity of how she was doing.

"I'm just wondering why didn't the search team that was here yesterday go through those crates?"

"I guess they thought they had everything," Natalia answered. She nodded and turned to leave but stopped.

"Um... thanks for yesterday," she said. And with her solid expression, she walked in the other direction. The two exchanged a look then got back to searching.

The place was scattered with crime scene tape, broken boxes and crates that were left in a haste by the Russians. In a far corner of the barren place Calleigh found more cealed crates - with a foriegn language written on the sides - stacked and hiding something. She scanned the musty ground for anything to pry them open and luckily found a crowbar. She placed her kit down and pressed the sharp end of the tool to the edge of the crate. It was hard and wouldn't budge. She tried harder but still no success. Calleigh eyed her colleagues across the room not noticing her. Then a flash of Eric being hurt by a bullet digging into his arm flashed through her mind, causing her to groan and smash the crowbar into it! The large box caved in and fell apart and so did the rest above it. The loud crash startled the others and they rushed over to her.

"Calleigh!" Ryan paniced when he didn't see her. Soon they heard her coughing and saw her untouched, on the other side of the heap. She was crouched over guns and debris tossing pieces of wood and pushing the guns away.

"You okay?" She only nodded. They proceeded to help her search for anything of use to them. Except for the noise made by the evidence there was a silence that settled on them. Calleigh kept dragging and pulling away things in a rage, searching intensely as if the one she loved lay beneath all of it.

"I got something," she said breaking the silence. She strongly pulled out a DELL laptop. Natalia followed her to a near crate and she placed it on top.

"Is it working?"

"No, I think the battery died," she suggested after trying to start it.

"Other than guns, there's nothing left under there," he stated joining them.

"I'm guessing that this, along with the rest of the guns, were left here by the Russians," Calleigh said.

"Well, what doesn't make sense is that it was found along with the guns. We know that the crates were here already but why would a laptop be in one?" Natalia pointed out.

"I don't think it was."

"And you didn't see it at all - before you broke the crates?" Ryan asked and she shooked her head. Natalia sneered at him.

"No," she faced the black heap, "but I remember that there was an opening, between two stacks of crates..."

"And you didn't look through it at all...?"

"The important thing is that we found new evidence: but why was it there in the first place?" Natalia saved her.

"I don't know... maybe one of them was there using it. There was alot of noise going on in the shootout, and he wanted to block some of it out..." Calleigh gave her unbiased opinion. They both stared at her as if demanding more.

"She'll take it back to the lab to confirm." The three looked at Horatio. He acknowledged, "Calleigh?" She nodded and immediately and went away with the bagged evidence.

Horatio stayed there watching them and their uneasiness towards one another. He peered at the mess behind them.

"It wasn't me..."

"Ryan," she warned, staring at him unbelievingly.

"Alright you two, whatever happened here was an accident."

"H., you know I don't wanna blame her, but she could've damaged evidence for no reason..."

"Ryan, give her a break she's going through alot..." Natalia attacked.

"That's the point, she's not thinking straight."

"Ryan, easy," Horatio calmed. Ryan shifted his footing angrily.

"All I'm saying is that I don't think Calleigh should be on this case."

"Mr. Wolfe, _I'll_ be the judge of that," he silenced.

Horatio's voice echoed to her keen ears from across the warehouse. Mixed emotions filled her head. She wasn't sure of how to act. Would she break down crying and be uncertain about her ability to fight crime or stay confident even though she might have jeopardized the case? The anger bubbled in her head, tears stained her eyes red and her feet pounded with every step. All this - but she was sure of one thing: that she she'd find him.

_Sometimes it's mad_

_things get bad _

_and I'm sad_

_wherever you are, there is_

_light by my side_

_I feel alright_

Song: Wherever You Are (I Feel Love) by Laava


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